Look, I play in three mixed leagues (the Cafe Challenge league and 2 CBS money leagues) and not one was Contraras cut (I owned him in one CBS league). The fact is, only a very unknowledgeable person would cut Contreras (spelling corrected). He has the ability to be a top five starter and you just don't cut pitchers like that no matter how bad he was pitching.

Look at the Cafe Challenge. With Prior down I've had to troll for pitchers and the best I've been able to come up with is Glavine and Day. If I saw Contreras or Milton out there I'd start crying I'd be so happy. These guys are good. The cream of the Cafe crowd and I'll actually have to work to win it. I can't compliment these fellas enough and I can say with absolute conviction that not one of them would cut Contreras or Milton (bastards).

Sorry about the double-post, but maybe it's worth repeating. You wouldn't have been crying with joy if he was out there after the horrible Boston starts, you might have kept an eye on him or threw him on your bench.

And what does that prove? I guess it proves that 69% in ESPN leagues aren't idiots.

Most of these leagues aren't ultra competitive, Costanza. In a competitive league making a mistake like cutting Contreras can be lethal not only because Contreras could be good but due to the fact that there won't be much out there to replace him with. In the Cafe Challenge league, for example, cutting Contreras for Glavine or Day was the best I could have done. I like both of those pitchers, but they aren't worth anything more then a temporary lifeline. This is the truth. You can take offense if you want, but this is the way it is.

Erboes, how many teams are in your league? I drafted him in both of my 10-team H2H leagues and I was forced to cut him and use his slot to rotate SPs. No one picked him up in either of my leagues (both are MVP leagues on ESPN).

Fantasy Baseball is GOOD for the game. Everyday is exciting; it makes following baseball a blast!

Erboes wrote:And what does that prove? I guess it proves that 69% in ESPN leagues aren't idiots.

Most of these leagues aren't ultra competitive, Costanza. In a competitive league making a mistake like cutting Contreras can be lethal not only because Contreras could be good but due to the fact that there won't be much out there to replace him with. In the Cafe Challenge league, for example, cutting Contreras for Glavine or Day was the best I could have done. I like both of those pitchers, but they aren't worth anything more then a temporary lifeline. This is the truth. You can take offense if you want, but this is the way it is.

My point is that you have a sampling of 31% of leagues who aren't enamored with the guy. It's not really an argument about whether or not he's worth keeping, but just trying to show you that he's not a slam dunk in the fantasy community's mind. The percentage might jump up after they get to him today, I'll admit, but still it doesn't make a league non-competitive if he's floating on the wire.

Erboes wrote:You traded him for Huff? Holy cow, now I think I know why I find myself screaming at the screen when visiting the Cafe, the level of competition most of you play on stinks (I wonder how many people I offended with that comment?).

How to figure out if your league stinks:

If you find players such as Milton and Contraras on the FA market (like I read on another thread). This stuff isn't fantasy baseball, it's Twilight Zone baseball.

Yes, I did. I sold high on Dontrelle, with those scoreless innings, and got Huff when he was hitting around .100. People are concerned about him being a fluke.

You are definitely much smarter than me Erboes, and you are in much better leagues than me. *bowing*

jaroche24 wrote:Erboes, how many teams are in your league? I drafted him in both of my 10-team H2H leagues and I was forced to cut him and use his slot to rotate SPs. No one picked him up in either of my leagues (both are MVP leagues on ESPN).

The Cafe Challenge league is 12 and the CBS leagues are 10. I own him one of the CBS leagues, so no one else in the other two dropped him.

Erboes wrote:And what does that prove? I guess it proves that 69% in ESPN leagues aren't idiots.

Most of these leagues aren't ultra competitive, Costanza. In a competitive league making a mistake like cutting Contreras can be lethal not only because Contreras could be good but due to the fact that there won't be much out there to replace him with. In the Cafe Challenge league, for example, cutting Contreras for Glavine or Day was the best I could have done. I like both of those pitchers, but they aren't worth anything more then a temporary lifeline. This is the truth. You can take offense if you want, but this is the way it is.

My point is that you have a sampling of 31% of leagues who aren't enamored with the guy. It's not really an argument about whether or not he's worth keeping, but just trying to show you that he's not a slam dunk in the fantasy community's mind. The percentage might jump up after they get to him today, I'll admit, but still it doesn't make a league non-competitive if he's floating on the wire.

In my mind it certainly does. Most of the ESPN leagues are not very competive. They should be classified as "recreational". The competition, in other words, is mostly mediocre.

Here's my point. Cutting Contreras shows a lack of foresight because how good he showed he can be. This is not to say he won't stink this year, but you have to give pitchers with that type of ability more than three starts. In a competitive league, rarely will you see this type of error. I could even go so far as to say I've never seen this type of error in this type of league since I've been playing in them, even by the cellar dwellars. If you are playing in a league that has players like Contreras being cut (unless it's 8 teams mixed), then you are probably playing in a mediocre league. That's just my opinion.

In the H2H league that was mentioned I'll give a little slack to because of the need to rotate pitchers. Still, I can't say it was a wise move.

Erboes wrote:You traded him for Huff? Holy cow, now I think I know why I find myself screaming at the screen when visiting the Cafe, the level of competition most of you play on stinks (I wonder how many people I offended with that comment?).

How to figure out if your league stinks:

If you find players such as Milton and Contraras on the FA market (like I read on another thread). This stuff isn't fantasy baseball, it's Twilight Zone baseball.

Yes, I did. I sold high on Dontrelle, with those scoreless innings, and got Huff when he was hitting around .100. People are concerned about him being a fluke.

You are definitely much smarter than me Erboes, and you are in much better leagues than me. *bowing*

Please.

Thanks, Trans.

I like Willis, but I couldn't imagine being able to get Huff for him. And going back to the original point of my post, I was trying to figure out what I could get for him. I tried to get lesser players than Huff and was turned down without even a counter. I was hoping someone would bite during his scoreless streak as well, but no luck. I do not know if this is a very competitive league that you play in, but being able to get Huff for Willis you must admit is not a good indicator.